Innovative 3D Printing Ink No Heating, Light or Toxic Chemicals Required for Recyclable Circuits
TapTechNews August 11th news, American and South Korean scientists have developed an innovative 3D printing ink that can create easily recyclable circuits and other structures without the need for heating, light, or toxic chemicals. The relevant research has been published in the journal Nature Communications and has received support from the US National Science Foundation and the South Korean National Research Foundation.
According to TapTechNews, most traditional 3D printing requires high temperature, pressure, and light to cure raw materials. For example, fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing requires heating to melt plastic filament and then cooling to form, while resin 3D printing uses ultraviolet light to irradiate liquid materials to cure them.
In the new study, the research team used a polymer called poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM). This polymer is non-toxic and is commonly used in the drug delivery systems in the pharmaceutical industry. In 3D printing, it only needs to be placed in salt water at room temperature to solidify.
The researchers extruded the polymer using a commercial medical-grade 3D printer and pumped it into a mixture of calcium chloride and water. The material will immediately solidify into fine and complex structures and has conductivity.
Using this method, the team fabricated a circuit doped with carbon nanotubes and successfully lit a small light bulb. The recycling process is also simple, just dissolve the structure in pure water and then evaporate the water in an oven at 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
Professor Jinhye Bae from the University of California, San Diego, and the senior author of the paper, pointed out that this method completely operates under ambient conditions without additional steps, special equipment, toxic chemicals, heating or pressurization. Since the polymer is easy to restore to its original state, the structures made with PNIPAM can be used for disposable electronics, robotic components, and prototyping. Jinhye Bae added: This provides a simple and environmentally friendly method for recycling polymer materials.
In view of the increasingly serious problem of electronic waste, being able to recycle circuits so easily will make a significant contribution to environmental protection.